Digital pathology professionals attended the 7th annual Pathology Visions Conference earlier this month. The Digital Pathology Association (DPA) gathering in San Diego featured more than 50 presenters and 42 educational sessions.

“We had the highest number of attendees in the history of our conference, and we are very proud of the role the Pathology Visions Conference plays in the education of those in the digital pathology profession,” said Dirk Soenksen, President of the Digital Pathology Association and Chair of the Pathology Visions Program Committee. “At this year’s conference, we had participants from 30 states, 17 countries, and 174 organizations who left with a greater understanding of the cutting-edge applications of digital pathology. We’re already planning for next year’s conference, which will be held Oct. 28 – 31, 2012 in Baltimore, MD.”

For the first time, the Indiana State Medical Association offered physician attendees of the Pathology Visions Conference the opportunity to earn up to 13 continuing medical education (CME) credits.

For those who were not able to attend and still want to earn CME credits, two of the conference presentations, the keynote address and regulatory panel discussion, are now available online.

The Regulatory Panel discussion entitled “Navigating Digital Pathology’s Path to Patients” was led by Stephen Hewitt, NCI, and a member of the 2009 FDA Hematology and Pathology Devices Advisory Panel on Digital Pathology. Others on the panel included: Tremel Faison, MS, RAC, SCT (ASCP) representing the FDA Office of In Vitro Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety; Walter Henricks, MD, Cleveland Clinic, representing the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program and the CAP Quality Center Work Group on whole slide imaging systems; and Debra Sydnor representing the CMS Division of Laboratory Services (overseeing CLIA).

Mahul B. Amin’s keynote presentation was entitled, “Personalized Medicine: Empowering Light Microscopy and the Pathologist.” Amin is the Chairman and Professor of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His presentation reviewed the role of the pathologist in contemporary health care and discussed the contributions, strengths and limitations of traditional microscopy.

Source: Digital Pathology Association